Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Policy (Version 4 – May 2017)

Scope

UCoach has a professional duty to provide children and vulnerable adults with appropriate safety and protection. As the welfare of the child and vulnerable adult is paramount, we are committed to providing safe equipment and facilities so that children and vulnerable adults may participate in courses/programmes in a secure environment.

We promote ethical behaviour, providing children and vulnerable adults with a sense of being valued. On this basis, we aim to ensure safe recruitment practices are always followed, to establish the suitability of personnel to work with children and/or vulnerable adults.

It is ultimately the responsibility of the Head of the Centre, Jenny Thomas, to ensure that this policy is implemented, published and accessible to all personnel, learners and any relevant third parties. However, the Qualification Coordinators (QCs) specific to each qualification are responsible for ensuring this information is fully understood by their qualification team and by the learners who commence courses/programmes in their area.

Objectives

In order to provide safety, protection and security to children and vulnerable adults throughout our operations, we will adhere to our child and vulnerable adult protection policy/statement and intend to:

provide support to learners who have been abused and act proactively by preventing any similar incidents through risk assessment

ensure all personnel fully understand their responsibilities and are provided with the appropriate training/regular updates of the

legislation.

In achieving our policy aims and being proactive, we have developed procedures related to the recruitment of personnel and how allegations of child and vulnerable adult abuse should be dealt with. In light of this, we implement safe recruitment practices in checking the suitability of personnel to work with children and vulnerable adults.

Personnel Recruitment Procedure

Applicants are required to complete an application form (which may lead to a subsequent interview) which contains explicit information about their past. These are required to be returned to the relevant department and the member of personnel managing the recruitment process.

Where applicants will take significant responsibility for safeguarding children during activities within UCoach, they will be required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. (Formerly a CRB).

Personnel are selected on their suitability to meet the job/role-related requirements and responsibilities and their ability to demonstrate that they can work safely with children and/or vulnerable adults.

Applicants will receive confirmation in writing relating to the outcome of their application/interview. If the outcome is positive, arrangements are made for induction and any relevant training, which includes clarification of activity requirements, responsibilities and child and vulnerable adult protection procedures and further identification of training needs.

New members of personnel are then required to confirm their agreement to abide by the UCoach policies and procedures, including the child and vulnerable adult protection policy, in writing. Awareness of child and vulnerable protection practice will continue to be addressed via ongoing training. All members of personnel who work with children and vulnerable adults are required to adhere to this policy.

Allegations Reporting Procedure

Allegations will be taken seriously and dealt with as soon as practicable, in line with child and vulnerable adult protection policy.

The Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Officer is responsible for conducting any investigation and demonstrating the results if the child and/or vulnerable abuse is suspected to be committed by a member of centre staff. Throughout this procedure, records will be maintained and kept securely and confidentially, separately from the learners' file.

The Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Officer will make a report to the authorities on any allegation, which places a child or vulnerable adult in danger.

In the event of an allegation of child and/or vulnerable adult abuse being committed by any 1st4sport personnel or tutors/assessors/internal verifiers who appear on a 1st4sport partner list (where applicable), the Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Officer is required to report any allegation to 1st4sport.

Allegations of possible child and/or vulnerable adult abuse required to be submitted to 1st4sport must be sent to:

The 1st4sport Incidents and Investigations Manager will make a report to the authorities on any allegation, which places a child or vulnerable adult in danger.

Data Protection Policy (Version 4 – May 2017)

Scope

UCoach is fully committed to protecting the rights and privacy of individuals operating in accordance with the statutory legislation outlined within the Data Protection Act 1998. In doing so we are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of data provided to us. Any decisions for the disclosure, retention or disposal of information are made in line with relevant legislation.

We recognise that the first priority under the Data Protection Act 1998 is to avoid causing harm to individuals. On this basis we keep information securely in the right hands, maintain the quality of the information and retain or dispose information as appropriate.

Information about our personnel, learners and other individuals will only be used in line with established regulations. Personal data will be collected, recorded and used fairly, stored safely and securely and not disclosed to any third party unlawfully. This also includes sensitive information such as ethnic background, political opinions, religious beliefs, health, sexual health and criminal records.

It is ultimately the responsibility of the Head of the Centre, Jenny Thomas, to ensure that this policy is published, accessible and implemented across all personnel, learners and by any relevant third parties. However, the Qualification Coordinators (QCs) specific to each qualification are responsible for ensuring this information is fully understood by their qualification team and also by the learners who commence courses/programmes in their area.

Objectives

As the lawful and correct treatment of personal data is critical to our successful operations and to maintaining confidence, UCoach is committed to operate in line with the data protection principles by:

collecting accurate personal data only

protecting staff, learners' and other individuals' personal details and any related records using this data fairly and only for specified lawful purposes

handling personal data for limited, specifically stated purposes

using personal data in an adequate and relevant manner, which is not excessive

holding personal data only for the time period required

maintaining personal data safely and securely

releasing personal data only to authorised individuals/parties and not outside with UK without adequate protection and the individual's permission

adhering to regulations and related procedures to ensure that all employees who have access to and handle any personal data held by or on behalf of UCoach in line with individual's data protection rights and are fully aware of and abide by their duties under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Allegations Reporting Procedure

Learners are required to report any allegation in relation to the unlawful treatment of personal data via the UCoach learner complaint procedure.

Personnel are required to report any allegation in relation to the unlawful treatment of personal data via the UCoach line management process.

A complaint should be made in the event that individuals feel that records of their personal data has been:

lost or not protected

obtained through unlawful disclosure or unauthorised access

recorded inaccurately and/or in a misleading manner

provided to a third party without permission

held longer than required

used for unlawful purposes

Where required, UCoach, will take appropriate action/corrective measures against unauthorised/unlawful treatment, loss, destruction or damage to personal data.

Equal Opportunities Policy (Version 4 – May 2017)

Scope

UCoach recognise that everyone has a contribution to make to our society and a right to equal opportunity. UCoach is therefore committed to promoting a best-practice environment, where all individuals and groups are treated with respect and dignity. All staff, learners and any related third party are required to adhere to this policy and to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 (as amended from time to time).

All staff, learners and any related third party are required to contribute to the effective implementation of this policy treating others equally and ensuring access for all. No one should feel threatened or degraded on the grounds of the following nine protected characteristics identified within the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. This policy aims to prevent and tackle all types of discrimination also identified through the Equality Act 2010

Direct discrimination

Where someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic.

Associative discrimination

Direct discrimination against someone because they are associated with another person who possesses a protected characteristic.

Discrimination by perception

Direct discrimination against someone because others think that they possess a particular protected characteristic. They do not necessarily have to possess the characteristic, just be perceived to.

Indirect discrimination

Occurs when there is a rule or policy that applies to everyone but disadvantages a person with a particular protected characteristic.

Harassment

Behaviour that is deemed offensive by the recipient. Employees can now complain of the behaviour they find offensive even if it is not directed at them.

Harassment by a third party

Employers are potentially liable for the harassment of their staff or customers by people they don't themselves employ, i.e. a contractor.

Victimisation

Occurs when someone is treated badly because they have made or supported a complaint or grievance under this legislation.

Objectives

Effective implementation of this policy ensures that we promote equal opportunities, eliminate discrimination, eradicate harassment and ensure access for all. This is achieved by:

ensuring that all staff, learners and any related third parties are treated equally at all times

ensuring all staff, learners and any related third parties are made aware of this policy and any related responsibilities

ensuring that all staff are responsible for creating an open and friendly learning environment

ensuring that staff selection for employment, volunteering, promotion, training or any other benefit will be on the basis of aptitude and ability

ensuring that learner and participant selection for courses and related initial assessments are conducted in accordance with the qualification pre-requisites and specific selection and initial assessment criteria

ensuring that all selection/rejection decisions are recorded for staff, learners and any relevant third parties.

ensuring that an effective access arrangements procedure is in place and deployed through conduct of reasonable adjustments and special considerations

opposing all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination.

taking any allegations or incidents of discrimination or any type of unfair treatment extremely seriously and responding to them swiftly

ensuring zero tolerance on any acts of discrimination on the grounds of the nine protected characteristics outlined within the Equality Act 2010. Where such instances of malpractice are proven, action will be taken in accordance with the UCoach Malpractice Policy.

It is ultimately the responsibility of the Head of the Centre, Jenny Thomas, to ensure that this policy is published and accessible to all personnel, learners and any relevant third parties. However, to further support effective implementation, Qualification Coordinators (QCs) specific to each qualification are responsible for ensuring this information is fully understood by their qualification team and by the learners who commence courses/programmes in their area.

Access to Fair Assessment Statement

Commitment

UCoach is committed to providing ongoing support to learners with particular requirements and aspires to eliminate discrimination. On this basis, we ensure accessible services, making reasonable adjustments and applying special considerations where these are required, to facilitate learners in completing each course/programme as independently as possible.

Access arrangements ensure that the conduct of reasonable adjustments and special considerations reduce substantial disadvantage caused due to a learner's disability or difficulty. In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, we have a commitment to provide access for learners with particular needs to prevent discrimination in the delivery of qualifications and the assessment of learners.

Reasonable adjustments

Reasonable adjustments are any arrangements made prior to the delivery or assessment of a qualification to reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty that places a learner at a substantial disadvantage. These arrangements are required to be granted by the awarding organisation for the assessment of learners with a permanent, long-term or temporary disability, a learning difficulty, illness or indisposition.

Special Consideration

Special consideration is the implementation of arrangements at the time of an assessment to allow competence to be demonstrated by learners who have been disadvantaged or were unable to attend the assessment due to emotional/physical difficulties or adverse circumstances. These arrangements are required to be granted by the awarding organisation for the assessment of learners who have experience temporary difficulties.

Objectives

Our personnel are committed to contributing to this practice and the overall aims are to assist learners in managing their individual situation and create a more accessible learning and assessment environment for all. In order for this to be achieved, we aim to determine learners' particular requirements and requests for the provision of access arrangements at an early stage. To ensure sure we give access to fair assessment and treating all learners equally we intent to:

ensure the access to fair assessment statement and practice are understood and complied with by any personnel involved in assessment and also by learners

promote equality within of each learning programme and in the conduct of all qualification assessments

adhere to related procedures and regulations regarding reasonable adjustments and special consideration; requesting permission to grant these for each learner from the relevant awarding organisation

ensure buildings and assessment sites used for delivery and assessment areaccessible to all learners, as far as is practicable

use assistive equipment and personnel within the reasonable adjustments framework, as outlined by the awarding organisation, without disadvantaging others who are not affected by particular requirements.

Access Arrangements Procedure

Stage

Reasonable Adjustments

Special Considerations

Stage 1:

The learner must request reasonable adjustments from the centre at the application stage of their course or by informing their tutor/assessor of the difficulty.

This information will be passed to the Access Arrangements Coordinator UCoach Administration Manager on Julie.strange@ucoach.org.uk who will evaluate the request and will liaise with the learner to validate their difficulty/disability and to ensure the relevant reasonable adjustments are identified. At this stage, the learner must provide all necessary evidence (medical evidence/certification, diagnostic test results, a statement from the invigilator/tutor/assessor or any other appropriate information) to support their request. Outcomes will be confirmed via email to the learner (Validated requests will then be forwarded to the relevant AO. For invalidated outcomes, no further action will be taken).

The learner must request all special considerations by contacting the centre's appointed Access Arrangements Coordinator Julie Strange, UCoach Administration Manager on Julie.strange@ucoach.org.uk.

The Access Arrangements Coordinator will evaluate the need for the special consideration. At this stage, the learner must provide all necessary evidence (medical evidence/certification, diagnostic test results, a statement from the invigilator/tutor/assessor or any other appropriate information) to support their request. Outcomes will be confirmed via email to the learner (Validated requests will then be requested from the relevant Awarding Organisation. For invalidated outcomes, no further action will be taken).

Stage 2:

The Access Arrangements Coordinator will request reasonable adjustments or special considerations from the relevant awarding organisation in accordance with the standard procedure.

Stage 3:

The Access Arrangements Coordinator will ensure all reasonable adjustments and special consideration are implemented in accordance with outcomes confirmed by the Awarding Organisation. They will evaluate the implementation and audit all outcomes. All records relating to the application, relevant evidence and monitoring forms are securely retained for five years.

Equality and Access Appeals

Where learners have requested reasonable adjustments or special considerations from but are unhappy with the outcomes they have a right to make an appeal via the UCoach Learner Appeals Procedure

Equality and Access Complaints

Learners have the right to raise any issues related to equal treatment and/or the implementation of access arrangements or make a formal complaint via the UCoach Learner Complaints Procedure.

Health and Safety Policy (Version 4 – May 2017)

Scope

UCoach is committed to providing a safe working, coaching, teaching and learning environment for all personnel, learners and any related third parties.

It is ultimately the responsibility of the Head of the Centre, Jenny Thomas, to ensure that this procedure is implemented, published and accessible to all personnel, learners and any relevant third parties. However, the Qualification Coordinators (QCs) specific to each qualification are responsible for ensuring this information is fully understood by their qualification team and by the learners who commence courses/programmes in their area.

All learners and personnel have a legal responsibility, as stated under Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to do everything practicable to prevent an accident or injury to themselves and to fellow learners and/or personnel.

Objectives

UCoach aims to promote health and safety, so far as reasonably practicable, by:

providing and maintaining safe equipment and environment, including a means of access in a condition that is safe and without risk to health

preventing accidents and cases of work-related ill health and safety hazards arising from work activities via effective risk identification, assessment and implementation of control measures

implementing regular emergency and evacuation procedures in case of a significant incident

protecting the health and safety and welfare of individuals and vulnerable learners via systematic risk management

engaging with learners, personnel and any related third parties, to provide providing relevant information, instruction, training and supervision, as is necessary to ensure health and safety

providing adequate training and allocating appropriately qualified members of personnel to identify and control potentially hazardous situations/environments

complying with statutory regulation on health and safety and welfare of learners, personnel and any related third parties This list is not exhaustive and represents general principles followed by UCoach in respect of health and safety.

Risk Assessment Procedures

UCoach ensure that suitable and sufficient control measures are in place to reduce identified risks in the delivery of all courses/programmes.

All personnel required to conduct risk assessments will be given the appropriate training and/or will be made aware of what is expected of them in advance. All recorded risk assessments are made available to all relevant staff who must ensure that all control and/or recovery measures plans are complied with and related actions recorded.

Where tutors/assessors identify additional risks which were not previously identifies, or where a current risk assessment is not in place risk assessment must be conducted.

Risk Assessment Record

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First Aid Procedure

The nominated/appointed individuals(s) are:

First-aiders

Our course tutors will be appropriately qualified through the Licensing scheme

All confirmed nominees are appropriately qualified first-aiders, holding current first-aid certificates. Therefore, one of the first-aiders listed above must be contacted in the event of an incident occurring, to administer any first aid required. It is important that all issues where a first-aider has been involved are recorded in the necessary incident logbook(s) which accompany the first-aid box(es).

Whenever learners are present, to attend for a component of a course/programme, their tutor/assessor is responsible for making them aware of whom their nominated First- aiders are and where they can be found (they are required to be on site at the time of a course/programme taking place).

The first aid box(es) are located:

The Centres that we run our courses at will all have appropriate first-aid equipment.

Accident Reporting

During a course the Tutor, Assessor, individual(s) in charge of the event (possible via delegation) involved in the accident/incident is responsible for ensuring that an investigation takes place and than an accident/incident/near miss report is completed.

In the case of an injury, following appropriate care for the injured individual, the Tutor/ Assessor/individual(s) in charge of the event must inform the nominated person Jenny Thomas at UCoach.

The Accident Report Form should be forwarded immediately via the quickest route to enable details to be recorded and any actions noted.

Please note that delivery/assessment sites might also have their own recording procedures which will also need to be followed.

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Internal Quality Assurance Policy

Scope

UCoach ensures that these arrangements are in place to quality assure the assessment of qualifications. The objective of these arrangements is therefore to ensure that all assessment is fair, consistent and meets 1st4sport and national requirements.

This policy has been designed to promote quality, consistency and fairness throughout the assessment and internal verification activities. It aims to ensure that standards of assessment are maintained consistently over time.

This document is applicable to everybody involved in the management, administration, training, assessment and internal verification of any qualification delivered within the breadth of this centres activities.

Any activity related to centre satellite, delivery and/or assessment sites are also obliged to abide by this policy.

For qualifications where, because of the size or geographic spread of assessments, more than one internal verifier is required to ensure the quality, an Internal Verification Team (IVT) is established.

Where an IVT is required, one verifier is identified and allocated to take on the role of a ‘Lead IV’, ensuring that the internal verification strategy and sampling plans are effectively established, implemented and maintained by the IVT.

Where only one IV is needed to cover the centre’s activities for a specific qualification, the IV is responsible for establishing the IV sampling strategy, sampling plan and subsequent implementation.

reviews and evaluates the quality and consistency of assessment at different stages of the assessment process

maintain accurate and current records of internal quality assurance

standardise all components of the assessment where appropriate

carry out continuous improvement activities to ensure all corrective actions and best practice guidelines requested by awarding organisations and their moderation staff (including external verifiers) are complied with.